This Christ-centered blog is designed to serve stroke survivors, families and friends, through sharing experience and faith. My own stroke came on May 8, 1998. God provided medical professionals, friends, fellow believers, and strength to get me through some struggling recovery times.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

In my personal tradition for Lent, I've been listening to selected books of The Bible while running. Now, if you're unfamiliar with The Bible, hang on with me - the best is yet to come. This year, I have gone through 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles and about to get through 2 Chronicles.

Those are very interesting books from, in Christian-speak, the Old Testament. In short, these are the stories of God's people, their constant pendulum of accepting and following God, moving away and ignoring God, then back again. And again. And again.

Much like real life.

The first time I went through these books of The Bible, I came away confused but intrigued. To me, having some knowledge about these years of kings and kingdoms helps explains so much the teachings of Jesus and his followers that came later. Get even a little grasp of the Old Testament, and the New Testament makes a lot more sense, in terms of location, groups of people, what people do and say and why, and much more.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Of course, air pollution generates many, many other problems. I remember visiting London several years ago and, when blowing my nose, found a tissue full of dirt. In visiting Chengdu, China, later, the city was covered with smog.

I ran in both cities, but couldn't help but notice the affect on my breathing.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

"Even under optimal conditions, many people may not have rapid access to comprehensive stroke centers, and without oversight and population level planning, actual systems of care are likely to be substantially worse than these optimized models," says Dr. Mullen.

Levels of access to care also varied in different geographical areas. Worryingly, access to care was lowest in an area often referred to as the "Stroke Belt" - 11 states where stroke death rates are more than 10% higher than the national average, predominantly situated in the southeast of the US.

"Reduced access to specialized stroke care in these areas has the potential to worsen these disparities," says Dr. Mullen. "This emphasizes the need for oversight of developing systems of care."

So the people who are most likely to need the care are also the most likely to be too far from care. We can - and must - do better.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

So many of us have been there - desperately trying to find ways to rebuild a brain. Here's one authors take on what it takes on the best ways to rebuild your brain after a stroke:

"In a cognitive sense, it’s true I am not back to where I was – I had a good memory and sharp analytical skills," David, 56, says. "But I have come a long way and in other senses, I am well ahead of where I was – in my ability to deal with life’s difficulties. I am calm and composed, I am more compassionate and my relationship with my three teenage daughters has improved as I am less irritable and much more present with them."

He details how he recovered in his new book "How I Rescued My Brain" and hopes he can inspire the UK’s one million stroke survivors. About 150,000 people have a stroke each year in Britain and half are left with disabilities. Although you can’t recover parts of the brain that are lost, you can “rewire” it so other parts take over.

"The first three to six months after a stroke are likely to show the best recovery, and sometimes people are told they won’t recover any more after that, but the research shows you can even years later," says Dr Shamim Quadir from the Stroke Association.

I like the last phrase in the last quote - you can see improvement even years later. There's a bit of a mindset in certain corners of health care that six weeks after anything is all the recovery you're going to get. That's just too simple and often wrong.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

When my stroke happened, I couldn't talk. I slowly recovered that ability, but not without some stress, worries and frustration. And, as this story (link below) reminds everyone, aphasia doesn't reduce intelligence.

One Voice was was set up in 2008 by Lorna Bickley and Katy Bennett as a community choir for people who had suffered strokes. Singing helps recovery of movement, memory, breathing, speaking - and confidence.

The phenomenon was first documented in Sweden in the early 18th Century when a young man who couldn't speak due to brain damage amazed the congregation at his local church by loudly singing along to hymns.

The American Stroke Association reported "the acquired language disorder now called aphasia became a subject of clinical study and a target for rehabilitation beginning in the mid-1880s".

"Since that time, every clinician working with aphasia has seen individuals who can produce words only when singing."

And those who transitioned from averaging less than 6 hours of nightly shut-eye to more than 8 hours had the highest risk, with close to a fourfold increase in stroke risk compared with people who consistently averaged 6 to 8 hours of sleep each night.

"We don't know yet whether long sleep is a cause, consequence, or early marker of ill health. More research is needed to understand the relationship between long sleep and stroke," said PhD candidate Yue Leng, of the University of Cambridge in England, in a written statement.

The study adds to the growing body of evidence on the ties between sleep and stroke risk.

Note to readers

This blog stands for faith in God and better stroke awareness. Everyone should be aware of stroke signs and know what to do. The life you save may be your own. Toward that end, stroke survivors and families are invited to share comments or stories. This is not designed to give anyone medical advice - we might talk about stroke care in general but always, always seek appropriate medical advice.